Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 176, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

August 6, 2003Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 6, 2003, 8:02 PM EDT for Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Aug 6, 2003, 8:02 PM EDT (00:02 UTC)
Expired: Aug 6, 2003, 11:00 PM EDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area: Whole counties

County Westmoreland County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:05 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 55 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 225 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1242 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 0 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 17 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WGUS51 KPBZ 070005
FFWPBZ
PAC129-070300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
802 PM EDT WED AUG 6 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  WESTMORELAND COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 1100 PM EDT

* AT 802 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED VERY 
HEAVY AND SUSTAINED RAINFALL OVER THE LATROBE AREA AND ALONG THE 
LOYALHANNA CREEK. HIGH RAINFALL RATES WILL CONTINUE THROUGH 830 
PM...CAUSING URBAN FLOODING. DRAINAGE SYSTEMS WILL LIKELY OVERFLOW 
IN LATROBE...CAUSING STREET FLOODING.


<<CALL TO ACTION>>DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE
WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW
YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

PLEASE REPORT HIGH WATER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY CALLING
TOLL FREE...1-877-633-6772.

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS71 KPBZ 070037
FFSPBZ
PAC129-070130-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
833 PM EDT WED AUG 6 2003


...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR WESTMORELAND COUNTY CONTINUES...


ALTHOUGH THE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL HAS DIMINISHED TO 
SHOWERS...FLOODING IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO 
IN AND NEAR LATROBE. RTE 981 IN DERRY TWP NEAR LATROBE DERRY ROAD 
WAS IMPASSABLE AT 815 PM.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE ACROSS FLOODED ROADS. MOST FLASH FLOOD 
DEATHS OCCUR WHEN MOTORISTS ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THROUGH FLOWING WATER.








$$

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Pittsburgh, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Aug 6, 3:05 PM EDT, 4 hours 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 6, 3:05 PM EDT, 4 hours 57 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
305 PM EDT WED AUG 6 2003

POPCORN SHOWERS/TSTMS SCATTERED ABOUT THE CWA. PULSING CELLS HAVE
NOT AMOUNTED TO MUCH SO FAR. PERSISTENCE LEADS US TO ADD PATCHY FOG
TO FCST FOR LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY THURSDAY.

BETTER CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND TSTMS ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING
AS WEAK COLD FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE WEST. K INDICES 30-34 21Z
THURSDAY TO 00Z FRIDAY. PW RUNNING 1.2 TO 1.5 ACROSS CWA WITH
HIGHEST OVER OUR SRN ZONES WITH A SLIGHT INCREASE DURING THURSDAY
EVENING. GOING OUT 120 HOURS LONG WAVE TROUGH STAYS TO OUR WEST.

PIT   63  80  64  78 /  30  30  30  30
HLG   63  79  64  78 /  30  30  30  30
MGW   63  79  63  79 /  30  40  30  30
ZZV   63  79  63  79 /  30  40  30  30
PHD   63  79  64  78 /  30  30  30  30
FKL   59  77  62  76 /  30  30  30  30
DUJ   59  77  62  76 /  30  30  30  30
LBE   63  79  64  78 /  30  30  30  30
BTP   59  77  62  76 /  30  30  30  30
IDI   59  77  62  76 /  30  30  30  30
ODM   56  75  59  77 /  30  50  40  50

.PBZ...
MD...NONE.
OH...NONE.
PA...NONE.
WV...NONE.

RS

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 6, 5:11 AM EDT, 14 hours 51 minutes before

MDZ001-OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-PAZ007>009-013>016-020>023-
029>032-WVZ001>004-012-021>023-041-060915-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
511 AM EDT WED AUG 6 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
EAST CENTRAL OHIO...NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA AND
GARRETT COUNTY MARYLAND.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 6, 2:59 PM EDT, 5 hours 3 minutes before

PAZ008-062000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
259 PM EDT WED AUG 6 2003

...HEAVY RAIN MOVING INTO NORTHERN VENANGO COUNTY...

A THUNDERSTORM WITH HEAVY RAIN IS MOVING INTO THE NORTHWEST CORNER
OF VENANGO COUNTY NEAR THE COMMUNITIES OF DIAMOND, CHAPMANVILLE, AND
BRADLEYTOWN. THE STORM IS MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT TWENTY MILES
PER HOUR. EXPECT HEAVY RAINFALL OF ONE HALF INCH IN LESS THAN A HALF
HOUR AS THE STORM PASSES.

MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR PONDING OF WATER ON ROADS AND LOW
VISIBILITIES IN HEAVY RAIN.

LS.

Special weather statement, Aug 6, 7:57 PM EDT, 5 minutes before

PAZ030-070145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
757 PM EDT WED AUG 6 2003

...SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORM OVER LATROBE...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A NEARLY
STATIONARY THUNDERSTORM OVER LATROBE IN WESTMORELAND COUNTY.  THIS
STORM COULD DUMP UP TO 1.50 INCHES OF RAIN IN JUST ONE HOUR, AND
COULD CAUSE FLOODING IN LOW LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.  SOME
STREET FLOODING IS ALSO POSSIBLE.  MOTORISTS SHOULD WATCH FOR WATER
PONDING ON THE ROAD.

IF CAUGHT IN FLOOD WATERS, MOVE QUICKLY TO HIGHER GROUND.  NEVER
DRIVE WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD, IT COULD BE TOO DEEP OR SWIFT TO
PASS THROUGH SAFELY.  STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES.

REHAK

The office that day

Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 6, 9:22 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	PBZ	Allegheny	3 hr
Aug 7, 2:18 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	PBZ	Westmoreland	3 hr
Aug 7, 7:09 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	PBZ	Lawrence	3 hr
Aug 7, 7:23 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Lawrence	52 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2003 Every flash flood warning in 2003

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.